To: Puptcrit Puptcrit <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org> From: Olivia Huff <ohuff-AT-dcn.org> Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:38:13 -0700 Subject: [Puptcrit] The frog pianist --revisited Dear Friends, as I promised, we went to Barcelona, and after three days of looking , finally found Daniel and his frog on La Rambla. He played in the afternoon/evening (after it cooled down a bit.) Daniel was most gracious in letting me photograph/video him and his control, but I haven't had a chance to really look at what I got yet. I have a hunch there won't be much more to see... The mechanism looks like something out of the Borg (Star Trek), and it weights around 3 kilos, he said (and I tried it, and it is indeed VERY heavy). Daniel has to take breaks to give his arm a rest. In between bits, Daniel spoke to us a lot. He's looking to set up a workshop in Mexico and perhaps spend 6 months in Mexico and 6 months in Barcelona. Barcelona is getting too expensive, and he mentioned that because he is not Spanish (but Mexican) he is often overlooked for opportunities and gigs. It's been a real struggle. His frog was featured on a children's show for a few years...evidently it talked (in Catalan, I think he said) and developed a personality. He finds that there isn't much camaraderie among puppeteers in Spain--not like he has gleaned exists in the US. He's got a few ideas he would now like to pursue for new shows, and new puppets. BTW, he had to change his place on La Rambla. He used to perform at the "top" where it is more crowded, but they banned all electrified sound from up there, as the road was being blocked by the audiences. That type of entertainment now needs to be at the "bottom" near the ocean part, and the traffic is less. It effectively cut his take in half. He is also running into the problem that he has been there so long that locals know him and his act and so they walk on by. Hopefully in a week or two I'll see what I got on my camera and see if anything is worth posting. Ciao Olivia _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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